Monday, September 1, 2008

St. John of Damascus says that when you come to judgment, God will weigh all your deeds in the balance. If your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds, says St. John, you will pass.

(I know; so far, this sounds terrible. But wait; this is St. John of Damascus! He isn't going to be any proponent of earning salvation.)

If your good and bad deeds come out equal, St. John says, then, by God’s love, you will pass.

If your deeds are downright deficient, then, by God’ greater love, you will still pass.

If your deeds are grossly deficient, then, by God’s even greater love, you will still pass.

If there is nothing whatsoever good in you, no real love at all, then you are lost. If you are entirely self-centered, well, as C. S. Lewis would say, you can’t enter heaven still clutching anything of hell.